Book Talks

When Alice's Aunt Polly, the Pie Queen of Ipswitch, passes away, she takes with her the secret to her world-famous pie-crust recipe. Or does she? In her will, Polly leaves the recipe to her extraordinarily fat, remarkably disagreeable cat, Lardo . . . and then leaves Lardo in the care of Alice.

Suddenly, the whole town is wondering how you leave a recipe to a cat. Everyone wants to be the next big pie-contest winner, and it's making them pie-crazy. It's up to Alice and her friend Charlie to put the pieces together and discover the not-so-secret recipe for happiness: Friendship. Family. And the pleasure of doing something for the right reason.

With Pie, acclaimed author Sarah Weeks has baked up a sweet and satisfying delight, as inviting as warm pie on a cold day. You'll enjoy every last bite.

I Am Princess X, by Cherie Priest

Best friends, big fans, a mysterious webcomic, and a long-lost girl.

Once upon a time, two best friends created a princess together. Libby drew the pictures, May wrote the tales, and their heroine, Princess X, slayed all the dragons and scaled all the mountains their imaginations could conjure.

Once upon a few years later, Libby was in the car with her mom, driving across the Ballard Bridge on a rainy night. When the car went over the side, Libby passed away, and Princess X died with her.

Once upon a now: May is sixteen and lonely, wandering the streets of Seattle, when she sees a sticker slapped in a corner window.

Princess X?

House Arrest, by KA Holt

Timothy is on probation. It's a strange word—something that happens to other kids, to delinquents, not to kids like him. And yet, he is under house arrest for the next year. He must check in weekly with a probation officer and a therapist, and keep a journal for an entire year. And mostly, he has to stay out of trouble.

But when he must take drastic measures to help his struggling family, staying out of trouble proves more difficult than Timothy ever thought it would be. By turns touching and funny, and always original, House Arrest is a novel in verse about one boy's path to redemption as he navigates life with a sick brother, a grieving mother, and one tough probation officer.

Booked, by Kwame Alexander

Nick Hall has everything going for him... until he doesn't.

Nick is the star on the soccer field and is on track to ask out the girl of his dreams. When his mom moves out to follow her dreams, Nick stops sleeping and not even his crazy, rapping Librarian, Mr. Mac can lift his mood. What can you do when your life is in a tail spin? This novel in verse is a quick read, and realistically reflects life as an 8th grade kid

The Westing Game, by Ellen Raskin

One murder, Sixteen heirs, One winner.

After Sam Westing is found dead in his deserted mansion, his sixteen heirs come together for the reading of the will. Uncle Sam speaks from the grave: "I was murdered by one of YOU!" Whoever solves the murder wins the prize...

The residents of Sunset Towers, heirs to the Westing Fortune, must solve the clues to find Uncle Sam's murderer and inherit the estate.

Orbiting Jupiter by Gary Schmidt

The two-time Newbery Honor winner Gary D. Schmidt delivers the shattering story of Joseph, a father at thirteen, who has never seen his daughter, Jupiter. After spending time in a juvenile facility, he’s placed with a foster family on a farm in rural Maine. Here Joseph, damaged and withdrawn, meets twelve-year-old Jack, who narrates the account of the troubled, passionate teen who wants to find his baby at any cost. In this riveting novel, two boys discover the true meaning of family and the sacrifices it requires.

Faceless by Alyssa Sheinmel

This heartbreaking story follows Maisie, a gifted athlete, who finds her life shattered after a horrific fire. Waking in the hospital after a medically induced coma, Maisie realizes she has lost weeks as her body slowly recovers. The second degree burns are the good news.

When fate offers Maisie the opportunity to repair the destruction of her face with a transplant, she accepts the challenge. What she doesn't realize is that by accepting the donor transplant she must accept the disorientation and sadness that comes with a long recovery.

As her relationships evolve throughout her recovery, Maisie realizes that she will have to let go of her expectations and find her own, new Maisie 2.0 path.

Every girl who had taken the test has died.

Now it's Kate's turn.

It's always been just Kate and her mom - and her mother is dying. Her last wish? To move back to her childhood home. So Kate's going to start at a new school with no friends, no other family and the fear that her mother won't live past the fall.

Then she meets Henry. Dark. Tortured. And mesmerizing. He claims to be Hades, god of the Underworld - and if she accepts his bargain, he'll keep her mother alive while Kate tries to pass seven tests.

Kate is sure he's crazy - until she sees him bring a girl back from the dead. Now saving her mother seems crazily possible. If she succeeds, she'll become Henry's future bride and a goddess.

If she fails...

Faceless by Alyssa Sheinmel

This heartbreaking story follows Maisie, a gifted athlete, who finds her life shattered after a horrific fire. Waking in the hospital after a medically induced coma, Maisie realizes she has lost weeks as her body slowly recovers. The second degree burns are the good news.

When fate offers Maisie the opportunity to repair the destruction of her face with a transplant, she accepts the challenge. What she doesn't realize is that by accepting the donor transplant she must accept the disorientation and sadness that comes with a long recovery.

As her relationships evolve throughout her recovery, Maisie realizes that she will have to let go of her expectations and find her own, new Maisie 2.0 path.